In maintaining the ice quality of an ice rink, the main concern is providing a smooth skating surface. Due to the action of skating and other causes, the ice surface may become rough due to mars or imperfections. The conventional method for maintaining a smooth ice skating surface is to use a resurfacing machine, such as a Zamboni.RTM., which lays down water to form a new layer of ice.
One problem with resurfacing is that often the newly applied water will run off the skating surface near the edges thereof and therefore not provide the rink with an optimal surface. As an example, in forming a hockey rink, boards are normally used around the periphery of the ice layer. The boards, even when butted up closely together, still have seams where water may escape.
Another problem emerges in resurfacing if the imperfections on the skating surface are large, such as gashes or cracks. The relatively large quantity of water used to fill such gashes requires a much longer time to solidify than the usual thin film, thereby increasing down time for the rink. To avoid this problem, snow or ice shavings will be packed in these larger imperfections and then watered. This is a common practice in the industry. However, the physical characteristics of the resulting patch do not facilitate a good skating surface.
The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the above problems.